Which Totem park tour in Ketchikan?

[lisar1969]

We are doing a late season NCL to Alaska. We are only in Ketchikan from 7 am til 1:15 pm. We would like to see the Totem park, however there are two excursion options. First is Totem Bight Park at $90 each for 2 hours. The other option is Trolley to Potlatch Park for $50 each for 1.25 hours. It looks like Potlatch is next to Totem Bight. Has anyone done either of these? Thanks!

[edinburgher]

9 hours ago, lisar1969 said:

We are doing a late season NCL to Alaska. We are only in Ketchikan from 7 am til 1:15 pm. We would like to see the Totem park, however there are two excursion options. First is Totem Bight Park at $90 each for 2 hours. The other option is Trolley to Potlatch Park for $50 each for 1.25 hours. It looks like Potlatch is next to Totem Bight. Has anyone done either of these? Thanks!

The two parks are indeed next door to each other and the public bus stops right outside.Totem Bight is a State Park with entry at $5pp. The bus ride from downtown Ketchikan is $2pp each way, $1pp for seniors.It is a popular independent sightseeing  trip with cruise pax in part due to  the ease of getting there and the low cost.

 

Having said that, if sailing with NCL it is unlikely you will dock "downtown", instead, they usually dock out of town  at Ward Cove which is actually on the road to Totem Bight.

 

Info and images for both Totem Bight and Potlach can be found on eg Tripadvisor.

 

If you have not already used the search tool here on CC to find past threads, here are some.

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=totem bight&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=33

 

 

 

Edited July 7 by edinburgher

[lisar1969]

Thank you! We'll just catch the bus and go to both. 

[edinburgher]

15 minutes ago, lisar1969 said:

We'll just catch the bus and go to both. 

In that case you will need to search for info on where to find the bus stop at Ward Cove and my understanding is that there is only one an hour. You might be lucky to get on at Ward Cove if  there are any spaces left, but if a bus fills downtown with pax from any other ships in port that day it likely won't even stop, leaving you with a long wait for the next one, which itself may or may not have spaces. Next option would be to take the NCL shuttle to downtown and catch the public bus there,  in which instance you would drive past Ward Cove on the way to Totem Bight.

 

Might a taxi be worth considering?

 

And did none of the past threads linked above mention buses or taxis from Ward Cove to Totem Bight?

If not, you could try googling the question.

 

There have been a number of mentions this year  of how poor NCL is in Alaska.  These included short port times, too early or too  late arrivals/departures, using Ward Cove instead of Ketchikan itself, and few if any NCL ships scenic sailing Glacier Bay, a very special Alaska day which for many is #1 in Alaska.

Edited July 7 by edinburgher

[nordicacres]

I liked Ward Cove. I didn’t find it a huge inconvenience, personally. I would sail NCL again!

[Travel-and-See]

There is also Saxman Totem Park - which is the one I visited.  The city bus goes right past and it is free. I enjoyed it.  I plan on visiting the other park on my next Alaska cruise.  

 

The town is also very enjoyable - seals in the water looking for salmon and such. The old "red light district" is now local shops.  Very fun.